Library>Travel in China>Protected Sites>Class Ⅱ>Contructions

Garden of the Master of the Nets

The Garden of the Master of the Nets is located in Kuojiatou Alley in the south of Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province.

Once the former site of Wanjuan Hall in the Chunxi reign (1173) of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), the Garden of the Master of the Nets occupies a large area. The garden was called Yuyin and later fell into disuse. In the 30th year (1765) of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty
(1644-1911), Song Zongyuan, a retired official, bought a part of the garden during his seclusion, and rebuilt it. It is said that Song Zongyuan had had enough of bureaucracy and would like to become a fisherman in his retirement. He named himself Yuweng (fisherman) after the name Yuyin. Because
the garden is close to Wangshi (master of the nets) Alley, it was called Garden of the Master of the Nets. The garden was destroyed again at the end of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty. After several repairs, the overall arrangement we see today came into being gradually. In the Republic of
China, Ye Gongchuo, Zhang Shanzi and Zhang Daqian once lived here, and the two Zhangs fostered a young tiger for sketching.

The garden is divided to two parts, residential area and garden. The east one is the residential area, with a gate facing to the south. When entering the gate, one can come to side rooms for sedan-chair lackeys, guest reception and living quarters. The doors and windows in each hall are carved
delicately, and rockeries are laid outside the windows. Flowers can be seen everywhere. This building is a representative of medium-sized mansions in ancient Suzhou City.

The garden lies in the west and the north of the residential area, and occupies about four fifths of the whole area. There are two gates leading from the residential area to the garden. According to its structure, the garden can be divided to three parts: the south, the central and the north.

The southern buildings form a small yard for dwelling and eating. Several main buildings are three bays wide, with winding corridors and yellow stone rockeries around, and it look like a deep and remote maze.

Because of devious corridors, and conceding, contrasting and foiling technics, with a spacious pond in the center and with kiosks, doors and windows, pavilions and corridors around, the interspaces look very remote and winding despite of obturation. It becomes the main sight in the garden. The
pond is almost square, and on the waterside stand the Sheya Corridor, the Zhuoyinshui Pavilion and a small stone bridge, making the pond look wider.

The building complex in the south comprises of several yards. The yards are bright and clean, beautiful and quiet. They are suitable for reading and painting.

A small door is opened in the west of the garden and outside lies a quiet yard planted with Chinese herbaceous peonies. In the north of the yard is a study, and in the south is the Lengquan Pavilion and the Hanbi Spring, interlaced with beautiful plums, bamboos, banana trees and stones from the
Taihu Lake. A huge and simple Lingbi Stone is placed in the Lengquan Pavilion. It is said to be a relic in the old residence of Tang Yin, a painter in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

The composition of Garden of the Master of the Nets is actually uninterrupted. Paths are everywhere, devious, natural and endless. These buildings and the water pond serve as a foil to each other. The arrangement is compact, and the structure is ingenious. The garden is worth the reputation of the
representative of Suzhou gardens.

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Library>Culture ABC>Folk Way>Ethnic Festival

Manchu

The Manchus mainly reside in Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning provinces. The Manchus have their own language and letters. They are adept at dancing and singing. Many of the ancient dances were from hunting and fighting.

Spring Festival

Nowadays, festivals of the Manchu people are similar to those of the Hans, but customs and traditions between the two are different. The Manchu Spring Festival has its special features. As the Spring Festival approaches, every family will tidy up the house and courtyard. They will make their
traditional snack — Saqima, which, by local practice, is made of refined flour, eggs, sugar, sesame, fruits and melon seeds. It looks nice and tastes delicious.

On the eve, people will paste Spring Couplets, paper cuts, and portraits of Door Go, etc, and wear pouches. The lantern poles are erected in the courtyard of each household to hang up lanterns and light up the night.

On the eve of the Spring Festival, people will make dumplings. The edge of the dumpling should be made pleated instead of flat, which might make the dumplings look like a monk’s head. Dumplings should not be arranged in a circle, a shape representing no way out. The dumpling is cooked between 11
p.m. and l a.m. While cooking, the host has to cry out, You, life! Did you all get up The others answer: Yes, we did! They regard the floating of the dumplings from the pot bottom as the life prosperity. Afterward, the kids climb up the cabinet and jump three times, symbolizing that the new life
will be improved.

On the evening, the junior should kowtow to the senior. Parents will give money to children. The relatives of kindred also pay each other the New Year’s call. Friends will feast each other. They recall the past and talk about the future. On the eve, people have to worship the ancestors and receive
the gods. While welcoming the gods, a wood bar is to be placed at the door to prevent evils from coming in.

On the eve of the Spring Festival, people eat dumplings. They put a coin in one of the dumplings, and the one that has it will be lucky throughout the year. Boys in crowds set off fireworks and firecrackers and play a mobile chair or cheerily skate; girls and young ladies dress up and play a kind
of toy made of the knee joint bones of pigs or cows.

Between 11:00 p.m. on the eve and 1:00 a.m. of the next day (the first day of the first lunar month), every family sets firecrackers to see off the old and welcome the new. In the meantime, they set the offerings in front of the sacrificial tablet of the ancestors besides the west wall, burn joss
sticks and kowtow to the forebears and pray to the gods for safety and good luck in the New Year. On the 1stday of the New Year, every family gets up early, put on new clothes and greet each other.

From the 1stto the 5thday, people gather together. They sing and dance, walk on stilt and enjoy themselves as much as they like. In some areas, young men organize performance tour in the villages, adding to the festal atmosphere.

Dragon Boat Festival

Manchus celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, and refer to it as the May Festival. They celebrate the festival for the purpose of keeping off disasters and pests instead of memorizing Qu Yuan (a scholar in ancient China) as the Hans do. It is said that long
ago, the God of the Heaven sent officers to the human world to people’s situation. On the fifth day of the fifth month, one officer disguised himself as an old oil peddler and hawked in the street, One kg, one bottle of oil! 1.5 kg, 2 bottles! People scrambled to purchase the oil. There was only
one old man who did not buy any and told the disguised peddler that he had made a mistake.

After the peddler sold out the oil, he followed the old man and told him: You are honest. The God of Plague is going to bring about the pestilence to the world. You’d better plant wormwood on the house eaves to avoid the disaster! The old man told other people this remedy and they survived from
the disaster.

From then on, the Manchu families planted the wormwood on the eaves of the house; and everyone carried porches containing arsenic sulphide powder, which serves as disinfectant. They will go to the outskirts. They wash up their face and hands with dew, and drink brook water to keep off eye disease.
It is said that to wash face, head and eyes with the dew on the very day can keep off sore, eye disease and abdominal pain. To take cooked eggs on the morning will prevent one from becoming emaciated due to less eating in summer.

Bala Festival

The Bala Festival is a common traditional festival of the Manchus. The Bala Festival is also termed as the Laba Festival. It is said that Sakyamuni achieved his religious cultivation on the 8thday of the twelfth lunar month. The ceremony of the scripture chanting is to be held in the Buddhist
temples. People used fresh paddy and fruits to cook porridge, called Laba Porridge, to fete Buddha. After Nurhaci set up the capital in Hetuala, he ordered to construct many temples, where people could chant scriptures and offer porridge on the 8thday of the 12thlunar month.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, people gradually formed the custom of celebrating the festival. Every year when the 8thday of the twelfth lunar month draws near, the Manchus make the Laba porridge with eight sorts of the cereals, such as glutinous sorghum and beans, to offer to Buddha and
the ancestors first, then friends and relatives, and at last themselves. In countryside, the Manchus have the custom to worship the fruit trees with Laba porridge, i.e. to cut an opening at the fruit tree’s root, put some porridge in it in hope of the bumper fruits.

Panjin Festival

In recent years, Manchus in various regions of China mostly celebrated the Panjin festival on the 13thday the tenth lunar month, known as the Naming Day of Manchu, to memorize the birth of the Manchu ethnic minority.

The majority of the Manchus were derived from the Nuzhen minority, and they absorbed some other minorities to form a new community. Therefore, they renewed the name containing the formation of a new community. The date of the renewal also stands for the birth of the Manchus.

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Library>China ABC>Religion>Tibetan Buddhism

Harvest Festival

TheOnkor Festival (Harvest Festival) is one of the most popular and busy festivals in the rural areas ofTibet, except theLosarFestival (Tibetan New Year). In general,Onkoris celebrated at the end of the seventh month on lunar calendar just before peasants begin to reap their crops. According to
the agronomic arrangement, the specific dates for the Festival vary according to places.

It is said that theOnkorFestival has enjoyed a history of more than1500 years. According to the relevant Tibetan documents, aqueducts were constructed in the Yalong area at the end of the 5thcentury AD, people began to use wooden ploughs to plow, and the agricultural production was comparatively
developed. In order to ensure the plenteous harvest, the Tibet King sbu-de-gung-rgyal asked the hierarch of Bon religion for guidance. Following the tenets of Bon religion, the hierarch of Bon religion taught the peasants to walk around their field, beseeching the Heaven for a plenteous harvest,
which is the origin of theOnkor. But theOnkorwas not a formal festival at that time, only an activity before reaping the crops.

During the late years of the 8thcentury,Tibetcame to the Silver Age of Tibet Buddhism when the representative sect was theNyingmapasect, and theOnkoractivity therefore was tinged with the features of the Nyingmapa sect. In the 14thcentury,Tsong Khapa, the founderof the Gelugpa sect came toTibet.
Through rectifying various sects of Tibet, the Gelugpa became the main sect in Tibet with dominant authority. More features of the Gelugpa sect were added into theOnkoractivities of the time accordingly. Along with the evolution of the time, the contents and forms of theOnkorchanged continuously.

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Library>China ABC>Religion>Mosques

Yidu Zhenjiao Mosque

The Yidu Zhenjiao Mosque is one of the famous ancient mosques in China. It is located in Yidu County, Qingzhou City, Shandong Province. It is also called Qingzhou Zhenjiao Mosque.

The mosque was established in 1302 by the descendent of Bo Yan, the Prime Minister of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), and was rebuilt several times later. It covers an area of more than 6,000 square meters, and the construction area is more than 1,300 square meters.

The whole mosque is divided into three parts. It has a planar and symmetrical layout, and it is a typical traditional Chinese building complex. The main buildings include the entrance wall, the gate, the mimbar, the worship hall, the stele pavilion, the lecture room, the sermon room, the learning
room, the bathroom, and so on. The gate features the traditional Chinese architectural style with three Chinese characters that mean mosque on it. Many tablets and couplets are hung on the mimbar. Inside the mimibar there are steles that record the history of the mosque and the Islam rites. The
worship hall is composed of the front hall, the main hall, and the rear hall.

The Yidu Zhenjiao Mosque is the activity center for the Islamites living in eastern Shandong Province.

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Library>China ABC>History>Milestones

Rise of Confucianism as Main State Ideology

Cconfucianism rose as the main state ideology during the time of Emperor Wudi in the Western Han Dynasty (206BC-8AD).

In the Qin Dynasty (221-206BC), Legalism served as the state ideology and at the beginning of the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD), Laozi’s theory that was more moderate and humane was put into practice. However, Laozi’s thoughts did not fit Wudi’s political ambition to consolidate his position and
strengthen his power when he became the emperor. In 140BC, Confucian scholar Dong Zhongshu admonished the ruler to establish Taixue (an academy) to educate the crown prince and to produce elite for governmental offices. He did an excellent job in answering questions raised by Wudi. Wudi was deeply
impressed and attached great importance to Confucians and some were even assigned to the high positions of minister.

In Dong Zhongshu’s words, the ruler should pay supreme tribute to Confucianism while rejecting all other schools of thought. From then on, all government officials were required to learn and study the Confucian Classics and laws were interpreted accordingly. Theorthodox Confucianism helped to
establish the ideological foundation in the feudal society ofChina. And it came to Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) dynasties.

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kdavid -

Does anyone have any suggestions for books that would introduce and help develop reading skills in
classical (pre-modern) Chinese?

Also, should I go for a book written in English, or for a book written in Chinese (e.g. what high
schools and university students start with / use in class to learn)?

Suggestions and advice appreciated! Thanks in advance!

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gato -

These threads should be helpful:

http://www. /showth…834#post115834
Which books do Chinese use to learn Classical Chinese?

http://www. /showth…ssical+chinese
Any good advice on starting to study Classical Chinese?

http://www. /showth…ssical+chinese
Recommend a Classical Chinese textbook

http://www. /showth…ht=poetry+book
How to appreciate Chinese Poetry

kdavid -

Thanks, gato!

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imron -

It’s fake. This page lets you check the 进出口企业代码 (import and export enterprise code)
of a Chinese company, and no company exists with the number: 0012811999018. In addition, the
import and export enterprise code for any Beijing company will begin with 1100, which is not true
for this company. Finally, business names need to begin with the location where they are
registered. This so if this was a legitimate company it would need to be called something like
北京华海科技国际贸易有限公司 (Beijing Huahai Keji…..), and not just
华海科技国际贸易有限公司 (Huahai Keji ….)

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gougou -

Also, the address says 国贸大楼. While some people might refer to it that way, this certainly
is not the official way of referring to the World Trade Center.

self-taught-mba -

Now quickly arrange a meeting and record everything.

gato -

Interesting that they’ve stopped taking Paypal.

Quote:

http://amazon999.com/info.asp?id=3

Dear friend:
Because using the payment of PAYPAL lasts for a long time, the products on on our webs were
cheated to take is excessive.A time just in the adjustment, during the period of adjustment
temporary not accept the payment of PAYPAL.

Remember this thread?
http://www. /showthread.php?t=17545
Does this mean PayPal discriminates against Chinese people?

Lessa&Merino -

Thank you everyone for your help, now i’m ready to put that men in his place

Lessa&Merino -

HI, everyone i got to other people who wants to make deal but one give me the licence business
with the website, the other just give the website but i forgot to ask the license busines, what
i’m going to do next after this.

Please help me, someone give the page to check if the business license is fake or not
but i dont know how it works!!!!!!!!!!!

http://lic.ec.com.cn:6804/index1.htm

here is the website with the license business, tell what you think about it i really want to start
the compane next week if possible : http://www.electronsupplier.com/nsort.asp?bookid=4

Here is the website of the other company: http://huyi.ecvv.com/

monto -

Quote:

Here is the website of the other company: http://huyi.ecvv.com/

For this company, you can search by name, and input “厦门+互+进出口” in the website

http://lic.ec.com.cn:6804/index1.htm

My search gives only one company name but not this one, they are called Hu Xin not Huyi.

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Shadowdh -

Hi there all, I was just compiling some stuff to do some reading practice with, some beginner
stuff and some thats more advanced (but not by much) and thought others might like to look at
it… its in two formats.. one is the utf 8 text file that works with Pleco 2′s reader and the
other is word… hope this is useful to someone.

*edit* it comes from here http://www.uiowa.edu/~chnsrdng/Chine…beginning.html

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ABCinChina -

Just my level!

Shadowdh -

Glad you like it… I thought much the same… cheers

megafrenzy -

This information is outstanding.

skyblue -

thank you.

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Jackdk -

Does anyone have information about the “ideal pitch range” in Mandarin?

Some speakers and actors on radio programs, as well as teachers on various AV learning materials
seems to exaggerate the tones (pitch range) when they read a text or perform a monologue. For the
same reason people would probably find it very strange if they heard such distinct and exaggerated
pronunciation during a normal conversation (…”he always talks like a radio play or the best
smurf in class” . By exaggerated I also mean “too clear/perfect”. Overdoing it.

So my question is: what is an “ideal” pitch range? Could it perhaps be expressed as the
“normal (native) pitch level” and n Hz below that (low third tone pitch) to n Hz above that
(first tone pitch)?

If so it should be possible to record ones voice on the computer and compare the recording against
the “ideal“ pitch range.
/J

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anonymoose -

I can’t really answer your question, but just to comment on this:

Quote:

Could it perhaps be expressed as the “normal (native) pitch level” and n Hz below that (low
third tone pitch) to n Hz above that (first tone pitch)?

I suspect the answer to this is ‘no’, because the perceived difference in pitch for a given
frequency interval depends on the frequency itself. In other words, perceived pitch and frequency
are not linearly proportional. For example, musically, middle C has a frequency of about 256 Hz. C
one octave above this has double the frequency at 512 Hz (therefore a difference of 256 Hz), but C
one octave below has half the frequency at 128 Hz (a difference of 128 Hz). So, first of all, the
n in the n Hz you mentioned could not be the same for the range above and the range below the
‘normal pitch level’. Also, supposing (for the sake of argument) the average pitch range is one
octave either side of the ‘normal pitch level’, to express this as a frequency range n Hz, the
value of n would be higher for people who have a naturally higher ‘normal pitch level’ (eg.
women), and lower for people with a naturally lower ‘normal pitch level’.

SWWLiu -

Sorry, I have really no answers or specific frequency ranges for you either.

I don’t think there is an “ideal” pitch range for everybody in Mandarin. I do think, however,
there is a “natural” pitch range for everyone, male or female, that makes one’s speech
“comfortable” and “relaxed” sounding. Unless you are singing, you have to beware of the tonal
restrictions and not “shift” up or down during speech, lest you be considered overly dramatic.
Actors in xiang4sheng1 dialog also use a tremendous variation in pitch for dramatic effect.

The “recitatives” in Peking opera do rise and fall for emphasis, but, as you have noted, that’s
drama. I think for normal speech, “naturalness” may be key.

On the other hand, speed of delivery appears to play a greater role: A hurried delivery signals
nervousness; a measured pace, with occasional pause for emphasis, will come across with
seriousness and gravity. Also, I think clarity and sonority are generally preferred over
tonelessness (or even falsetto).

I hope other respondents can come up with more specific frequency ranges or related comments
(classified according to male and female, and to age)?

huisheng -

As far as I know, no Chinese speak Mandarin in a 铿锵有力 way on a daily basis, if I
understand “ideal pitch range” correctly. I’ve heard non-native speakers trying to speak like that
and it was really not nice. When you can’t sound native, being high-pitched is harsh. A laowai
accent is fine the way it is, as long as you pronounce every single word clearly.

roddy -

Quote:

A laowai accent is fine the way it is, as long as you pronounce every single word clearly.

What’s a laowai accent, exactly? And which committee decided it was fine?

As for the actual topic, there are a number of studies that have information on this type of
thing. The one that looks most relevant seems to be this (pdf). I can’t copy and paste text out of
it, but basically if I’m reading it right, a study based on a corpus of people booking tickets
over the phone found an average pitch range of 16.3 semitones. No difference in ranges across
gender, although there is a difference in absolute pitch.

That’s the average pitch range across speakers. There’s a more extreme range across ‘intonation
phrases’. For an intonation phrase the average pitch range is 10.2 semitones, but it varies
between 26 semitones and 1.3. Presumably due to phrases where the speaker needs to be clear
(saying their name / address) and not so clear – saying thanks at the end.

I’d come across that study before so went looking for it. There’s more on Google, and you could
maybe track stuff down via the references in that study.

If you do a Google advanced search function and limit results to pdfs this stuff becomes a lot
easier to find.

huisheng -

A laowai accent, in my definition, is the unique speaking pattern westerners have, of which the
major characteristic is the wrong intonation. When I say fine, it means laowai accented Mandarin
with clear pronunciation is perfectly understandable, which is the key in communication.

Jackdk -

Thanks to you all.

It seems like linguistic / phonetic software tools such as Praat could be used for pitch analysis.

Slightly scary what Roddy is able to come up with… Thanks again.

SWWLiu -

I have not tracked down the original sources cited by Roddy. However, the ranges given would seem
unexpectedly large to me:

——————————

Quote (from Roddy):

… a study based on a corpus of people booking tickets over the phone found an average pitch
range of 16.3 semitones. No difference in ranges across gender, although there is a difference in
absolute pitch. That’s the average pitch range across speakers. There’s a more extreme range
across ‘intonation phrases’.

For an intonation phrase the average pitch range is 10.2 semitones, but it varies between 26
semitones and 1.3. Presumably due to phrases where the speaker needs to be clear (saying their
name / address) and not so clear – saying thanks at the end.

——————————-

Since 12 semitones (in equal temperament) constitute an octave (or a factor of 2 in frequency), an
average pitch range of 16.3 semitones is over an octave and a range across “intonation phrases” of
26 semitones is over two octaves. I guess both figures are larger than expected for me, though
still not unreasonable.

In American English, the mid-Western accent is usually considered standard — I particularly like
the mellow Californian accent, which also appears to have a large range across “intonation
phrases.” Anyone from the West Coast among the Forum visitors? Do you agree that Californian
speech has a comparatively greater range across intonation — in other words, the smooth phrases
tend to “go up-and-down” more widely than other regions of the U.S.?

roddy -

I had a quick look to see if I could see any quoted pitch ranges for English, found one reference
to 3/4 to a full octave of range within an intonation unit being ‘very wide’, so I guess for an
English speaker at least the 10.2 semitones equivalent for Chinese would seem wide, but not out of
the ball park. source, pdf again,

This stuff isn’t actually hard to find – the pdf in my above post was actually the first result on
Google for ‘pitch range chinese’, until this post knocked it off at some point today. Haven’t read
this stuff in detail, and might not understand if did

As for huisheng, I don’t think anyone even halfway serious about being competent in a language can
accept an accent where the main characteristic is ‘wrong’ anything. Communications is of course
key, but there’s a lot to be said for not sounding like a freak.

huisheng -

Something’s wrong with me when that posting was made. Please forget it.

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muyongshi -

Is there any corresponding term for this in Thai? I keep finding myself wanting to do this as I’m
here in Thailand and it is driving me CRAZY!

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82riceballs -

just say “Thank you very much”. They’ll understand (i think) or ask some Thai person how to say it.

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